The plows had the driveways and roads cleared in plenty of time for me to get to church at 8AM. After that first fiasco the snow plowing crew have been Right ON. With all the snow, I can't even begin to wonder what the condo snow plowing will amount to this year. Want to bet that our condo fees go up next year?

Chelsea is absolutely in hog heaven with all the snow. She is constantly asking to go out. I am sure that the water pills are contributing to the problem but the way she digs around and rolls around in the snow, I sometimes think that she is just taking me out to play. She is filthy. On Wednesday, she gets her bath. She will not be happy, but at least she will be presentable for Christmas.

Fr. Van Beeck is extremely proud that we, St. John The Baptist Church, are "featured" three times this advent season. Today John the Baptist asked Jesus if indeed he was the "One I have been waiting for." Kind of an interesting question. Who would have thought that John would have doubts at this time. He was in jail and was beheaded shortly thereafter. But as Fr. Van Beeck says it gives US hope when we lose a little hope sometimes.

When I got home, I baked the Stollen. I think I told you that I kind of mixed up which part got which amount of sugar, but it did not make TOO much difference. They are really good.

Bobbie and I worked for a couple of hours at Rhine. I brought some pear bread for everybody to snack on. They let us go home early because it was SO slow. We had only two or three rounds shot and half of the shooters were member. It was Bobbie's last day of working. She is dropping out as of January. I will miss our work times together. We really don't see each other that much otherwise. Probably will have to MAKE times to visit. I brought three bottles of bubbles for the kitties too. I sure miss my kitties. Especially when I am very tired and achy. My Oscar was such a comfort. I don't think I will ever have my babies back again. I don't care what anybody says. It has been over a year and I just don't have any hope anymore. I am so glad that Bobbie and Bill love them too. But I miss them SO much.


We racked the Lemon Balm Wine this afternoon after I got back from Rhine.

Now we are spending a quiet evening watching a Christmas Movie that I haven't seen before. It is a little vague but is pleasant enough. A nice way to spend an evening.

I called a number that I had for a cousin of mind, Diana Cool, Uncle Jim's daughter. She sounded so glad to hear from me and asked first about my Mother. So I know her memories are pleasant. We will, I hope talk again soon, and can catch her up on us and me up on her and hers.

Tomorrow is party day. Last Bible Study until after the New Year and the Cream City Writers party right after. I also have a conference call for CWI at 4PM. So it will be a full day. I have not heard from Kate so am assuming that things went reasonably well for Ron on Friday. It is well to keep on praying until we know all is well and then give thanks. Remember to pray for Bret's friend Travis too, the young man who was seriously injured in that motorcycle accident. The last I heard he is improving but his kidney (he lost one) had not started working as yet. Lets opt for Christmas miracles.

That's all. Have a pleasant week before Christmas. I hope you are almost all ready and that your time is special.

Love

Mary

Only 10 days until Christmas. We are all ready. It snowed all day again today. I don't remember a year with this much snow in December in years if ever. Chelsea loves it, of course. Snow really turns her on.

This morning I drove to Sheboygan Falls to see Mother. I mailed her Christmas cards for her on the way home. She is fine but has been housebound this past week because of the weather. I hope it is nice this week as she is supposed to have two Senior meal events, one of them a party and she likes that.

I fixed a turkey for dinner today. The Thanksgiving turkey tasted so good that it made me want more and especially made me hungry for leftovers. Boy, now I have plenty of them.

I mixed up a batch of Christmas Stollen today too. It has to sit in the fridge overnight and then tomorrow I need to roll it out, fill it and bake it. It keeps for a long time. I checked with Mother. She is making a batch today too.

With all the snow, the world is a white and silver wonderland. Quiet and peaceful under the cloudy gray sky. It is so beautiful now before the black exhaust leaves a film on everything and it becomes old and jaded.

We should enjoy the purity of it.

Have a nice Sunday. I am working at Rhine. Bet it will be a very quiet dull day.

Love

Mary

Such an early onset of winter makes us leery of then next five months. It has been many years since we have had this much snow and this much snow this early in December. It would be nice if the snow stayed around until after Christmas. (All that White Christmas stuff, you know.) But snow through March or even into April is hard to accept. Only time will tell, but it was 13 degrees this morning when Chelsea and I went out for our morning walk.

She has been a real pest today. I must have taken her out at least 8 maybe 10 times. We don't know what is happening. Is it old age? Is it the pills? Is it because she is a spoiled little puppy (Bitch is the word Dick uses. Not insulting- after all bitch is the proper term for a female dog.)

I cleaned the kitchen and mixed up a pie crust this morning. AND Dick and I finally got the Gewertziminer racked. So a lot was accomplished. I vacuumed the guest room and dusted in that room. Tomorrow I hope to get the den.

Today I was thinking of a dear friend, Twila Heinze. Isn't Twila a lovely name? It belonged to a lovely woman. Twila was married to a man named Ernie. They owned a auto repair place in Santa Ana. Ernie was severely injured in a jeeping accident and was unable to work any longer. They had several children and the business was survival for them. SO - Twila learned how to be a mechanic and to run the business and they did just fine. She was dynamic.

We belonged to the same jeep club. One year at our Christmas party she commented that children were funny little creatures and all raised differently. She said that one of the little people had been scooting by her on all fours and she had patted him on his little rear as he scooted by and her burst into tears. She and I were both used to a little love pat on the buns of our munchkins, just to let them know that we were there if we needed them. She also mentioned that her boys and grandchildren all had dark coarse hair. My boys and the Kirby boys and the Nordin boys all had blond hair. She said that blond kids smelled like puppies. Isn't that the cutest thing you ever heard.

Love

Mary

Today we stayed home the whole day.

I cleaned. Bathrooms, and stairs and the kitchenette downstairs.

I also think I have all of my Christmas cards sent off. If I forgot anybody. I am sorry. It seems so important to be in touch at this time of year. I guess it would be good if it continued all year round but at least Christmas makes us take stock of ourselves and our friendships again.

I got a call at about 6:30PM from Kate. Just a quick call. Ron made it through the surgery OK. They put two stints in the heart. There are two others that need care I guess. The nurse came in as she was talking to me so she had to go. Just keep praying that all continues to go well and that Ron is restored to health. This has been a long and scary road they have been traveling.

Since it is near Christmas I will again give you my Scripture Cake Recipe. I did not make it this year as I have too many other things and still want to bake some of Mom's Stollen Recipe that came from Grandma Deeley.

We should always let the scriptures be our guide. It even works when making Christmas goodies – at least it works when making this delicious cake. Read the scripture indicated to find the ingredients and make this interesting and informative cake for a special family home evening activity.

SCRIPTURE CAKE

1 Cup Judges 5:25 (Last Clause)

1 Cup Jeremiah 6:20 (From a far country)

5 of Jeremiah 17:11

2 TBLSP. 1 Samuel 14:25

1 Cup Judges 4:19 (Last Clause)

2 Cups Numbers 28:5

5 teasp. Amos 4:5

1 teasp. Leviticus 2:13

2 Cups 1 Samuel 30:12 (Second Item)

2 Cups Naham 3:12 (Chopped)

1 Cup Numbers 17:23 (Halved)

Season to taste with II Chronicles 9:9

Mix as quick breads or fruitcakes are mixed.

Follow Solomon's directions for making a good boy, Proverbs 23:14

Bake as a fruitcake at about 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. Makes two loaves

Love

Mary

When we wpoke up, the plows had neatly cleared our streets. So Chelsea and I tried a walk. We did OK but there was a lot of ice on the streets and big snow drifts on the sides of the road and blocking the paths to the park so we headed back after about 20 minutes.

This was shopping day. So we stopped at the bank then proceeded to the Family Restaurant for breakfast. I felt adventurous today and ordered pigs in a blanket. The brought out three huge pancakes wrapped around pork sausages. I wish they had pig in a blanket. Dick and I will eat a good breakfast tomorrow too.

Next was our weekly shopping trip. I think Dick was ready to disown me. He was VERY tired. So went to get some wine while I checked out. HOWEVER. I had a rain check for two dozen eggs at .99 each dozen. That would have been easy but the Pig ALSO was giving Pig Points for gas on eggs this week. That meant that they couldn't run the rain check through and give me credit for the Pig points without some real shenanigans. But we did it. This was a good week. I also bought a turkey because I got $8.00 off on it. I will cook it this weekend and divide the leftovers up into portions for the next couple of months. The only difficulty with not cooking Thanksgiving Dinner IS NO LEFTOVERS.

We went to ReMax this noon for the annual Christmas brunch that Bill puts on. It was excellent as usual and he had some really NICE gifts. A ceramic ornament, some note pads and a calendar. I like that.

Then I framed the presents that I have for my brothers and sisters and Denise this Christmas. I can't tell you what they are because some of them read this blog. It's a surprise. Tee! Hee! Only a couple of weeks until Christmas and I will bring George and Nora's to Texas.

We got started on the wine today but will be spending the next week racking and filtering. Hope we have some more ready for Christmas. We probably have enough anyway but it is nice to have the variety to share.

I remember when the kids were very young. Bret was about three or four and his very best friend was Chip Nusser who lived next door and Joyce, Chip's mother was my best friend. We went out tree shopping. The trouble is that you get two short mom's who are really kind of hyped up about Christmas and send them into a tree lot and things get out of hand. We decided that the tree should be about as tall as we were. The only problem with that is that as we were measuring, our hands kind of started pointing up. Until we got home, we did not realize that the 5 or 5 1/2 foot trees had "grown" t0 about 7 feet and both trees were too tall for our living rooms. Dick and Dan had to cut a couple of feet off the bottoms of them so they would fit. They were beautiful trees though. Good thing I had a pickup.

Have a nice Thursday. Get in the spirit.

Love

Mary

Woke up this morning to a steady snowfall of nice fluffy flakes that kept falling until almost 3PM. Chelsea loved it. We actually had a very nice walk. It was not windy and I wore my non slippy boots so we sent around the park and came through the park back to Tallgrass. She was delighted and bounded in like a young pup. Of course that didn't last too long. She is totally exhausted now.
We did not leave the tract all day. I watered plants and baked Lizzies and changed some arrangements for the Cream City Writer's party that will occur on Monday. We are going to Antoinette's instead of Hub City. Hub City is SO smoky that I think we would be uncomfortable. Between Bev and I we have contacted all the writers.

Today when I was talking to Kate, she somehow connected to the fact that my boys are named Bret and Bart. She laughed and asked how that happened. So I told her it was from Maverick, the series on TV back then. She had assumed it was from the Green Bay Packers two most favorite quarterbacks, Bart Starr and Bret Favre. I remember that Sara and Nora thought that it was pretty neat that their uncles were named Bret and Bart. Actually my Bret is a couple years older than Brett Favre so who named who after whom.

Tomorrow we shop and go to the ReMax Open House. That is always nice and Dick likes it because they have raw beef sandwiches. We also need to get back to racking wine again. The Gewertziminer is ready to rack.

Have a good day. I hope the roads are good tomorrow.

Love
Mary

It was a very cold day today and cloudy and gloomy too. The day was not cloudy and gloomy though.

Dick and I had to be at Aurora in Plymouth for his last Diabetes Class at 8:30AM. This class covered vitamins and minerals and herbals and reviewed the previous 6 classes for us. We have been really pleased with the lessons. And so far, Dick is keeping his sugars within the parameters just with diet.

Then we trudged down the hall to Dr. Sharon's office. He wanted to see how the sores on Dick's legs are doing. I showed him the kind of weepy area on Dick's right foot and Dr Sharon took a swab to test it. We will hear if there is an infection in a day or two. I hope not. We have been working VERY hard to avoid that.

Then I dropped some things off at Kate's and went to the Pig to pick up Jenna from the Cream City Writers to go to City Streets in Sheboygan for the Sheboygan County Writer's Club Christmas party. That went quite well. We ate, then everybody got a door prize, then we exchanged gifts and then finally those who had submitted read their selection from the book that John Textor, our co president, put together. The second COLLECTION OF WORDS, WIT AND WISDOM Volume 2. It is a nice book and I purchased several for gifts.

I got home at about 3:30 after picking up Chelsea's meds from the Kettle Moraine Veterinary Clinic. We had soup and grilled cheese for supper. Now the day is done and we can wind down. Good thing. I am really tired.

Look into the eyes
Of those who hold out their hands
And you have to love.

Tomorrow we get to stay home all day. If there is no sleet, I will go to Church in the evening for the Evening with the Pastor. The bible study.

Take care. I am going to bake Lizzies tomorrow.

Love

Mary

Another full day. I am almost glad that the weekend if over.

Had to be up by 6 because I went to the 8AM Mass. Sure glad I didn't have to miss another one. Fr. Van Beeck pointed out something interesting. This was the gospel of Matthew referring to John the Baptist living out in the desert wearing camel fur and eating honey covered locusts. John said that the "Kingdom of God is at hand." He did not mean that it was coming soon, which we usually assume but that it is there for the taking. Pretty interesting.

When I got home, I fixed breakfast and then went out to Rhine. We started early today because there was some sort of meet which started at about 10AM. It was not too busy. Sara Behr had made chicken soup for people to eat on as we were open over the lunch time. We also served ham sandwiches and coffee. I left between two and three to come home. I brought some of the soup home for us to lunch on during the week. Sara DOES make a great chicken soup.

I called Kate Herman, my friend, tonight. She is not going to be able to to to Sheboygan Writer's tomorrow as Ron needs her there. I had offered to go to St. Luke's with her and Ron on Thursday when he will be able to undergo surgery, but it looks like their son will be able to go now. That will be much better for Kate, but I told her to remember that I will stay available in case she needs me. Please pray hard for Ron. He is a very sick person and needs us.

Tomorrow morning, Dick and I will be going to diabetes class again. I am not sure what we are covering this time. Then he sees Dr. Sharon. We need to be sure that his legs are not infected. I am sure they are not but am worried about one "hot spot" on his right foot.

What a game the Packers had today. They won handily. It seemed that every time I turned away from the screen, they would do something else spectacular. It was worth my having to see them on the replays.

Guess that should be all for today. I called Bart today and had a nice telephone visit with him. It will be good to see him and Barb in Dallas.

Take care now and have a good week

Mary

Talk about cold. It was 5Degrees when I got up this morning. Chelsea and I went for a nice walk but not too long. It was very quiet out there.

At 10AM, we attended the annual budget meeting Christmas Gathering for the Tallgrass Condo association. It was an exciting meeting but I understand, NOT as exciting as the Spring meeting. The budget passed quite easily, then the discussion turned to questions about maintenance and snow removal. I think our board officers handled it quite well. It was pointed out the concerns should be addressed to the board, preferably in writing and that all residents are welcome to attend board meetings. Michelle brought up the fact that there is a limit of one animal per unit and it was noted that it would take a revision of the bylaws to change this. Someone stupidly said that exceptions could be filed for and I jumped in with a resounding "NO." That has been tried and the board is a heartless group of people. I miss my kitties more near Christmas. Isn't that funny? I suppose it is because it is a more emotional time of year. But it is hard for me to get to sleep and I do miss my Oscar. He was very comforting.

This afternoon, I finished wrapping Dick's presents. I hope he likes them. I also wrote several Christmas Cards out. Soon that will be done too.

My brother George called this afternoon. He is such a pleasure to talk to. I was so happy to be able to tell him that I FINALLY framed the print that he and Betsy gave me to remember Courtney by. It framed up beautifully and looks great above our fireplace. For some reason it reminded me of a quote from Little House on the Prairie that Michael Landon wrote. "Remember me with smiles and laughter, For that's the way I will remember you all. If you can only remember me with tears, Then don't remember me at all."

I hope to be remembered that way. Wonder if I will be remembered?

Love

Mary

There was about an inch of snow on the ground and the roadways when I woke up this morning. Actually it was after 6:30AM so I couldn't complain about the time at all. I strapped on my traction boots and Chelsea and I had our first decent, not the best, but decent walk in three days. Boy was she glad. When we got back home she BURST through the door to let Dick know what a good time she had. She is so cute.

Then Dick and I went to the Point in Falls for breakfast. They are now a non smoking place so it is really quite enjoyable. I do like their breakfast sandwiches. They offer them on either hard rolls or English Muffin Bread. Then we went to the bank and paid a bill and came home.

I cleaned the kitchen but with all the snow and more still coming I only swept the floor instead of scrubbing it. Next week will be soon enough.

I joined the gals for lunch at Dairy Queen. Marlene said that she took over for me as Eucharistic minister on Sunday. I told her it was a good thing as I was snowbound.

Then tonight, Dick spoiled me even further. He took me out to Antoinette's for a fish fry. So I ate all three meals out. Boy was Chelsea disappointed in us. Not even one skimpy little plate to beg for.

I finished wrapping all the presents today and they are neatly stacked under the tree which looks beautiful. I love Christmas.

Tonight I did a good hunk of my Christmas cards, both email and snail mail. I figure I am about 1/2 done.

I called my friend Kate. Ron has to go to St. Luke's on Thursday for surgery. Please pray for him. He has to wait til then because he has to stop taking blood thinners before they operate. I told Kate that I would go with her. That is a long scary way to go without a friend.

Tomorrow, we will go to the Condo Budget Meeting. That will be exciting since everybody is all up in arms about the snow plow situation. I am actually content with the second and third snows so hope it is not a nasty time.

Sunday I work at Rhine so the weekend is busy. Sure glad that I have leftovers to prepare for meals. It will be SO much easier.

Hope your weekend is wonderful too. Have a happy season and wish everybody Merry Christmas.

Mary

"Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will ever read!"

I asked the Lord to bless you as I prayed for you today.
To guide you and protect you as you go along your way....
His love is always with you, His promises are true,
And when we give Him all our cares,
You know He will see us through.

As you can see, we did pick up the car today. The coldest day of the winter so far. It was a big 2 degrees when I got up this morning. Chelsea and I did not go for much of a walk because it was WAY too cold.

We went to Mike Burkart Ford at 9ish and went through the paperwork and the rundown of the features of the new car. Then we drove out to Sheboygan Falls to drop some money off at Mother's and to give me a chance to get used to driving it. It is really nice. Mother liked it. Did I tell you that it has a running board so that it will be easier for Dick AND Mother to get in and out of the vehicle.

When we got home it was a stay at home day. I did a bit of cleaning and computer work and fixed a Mexican Chicken Casserole for supper. We both took a nap this afternoon because we were tired after our late night last night.

It has started snowing out there again this evening. I don't think there will be too much accumulation. I am hoping that perhaps Chelsea and I can have a normal walk in the morning. I am getting restless and I am sure that she is. You will be glad to hear that she has not had a seizure for over three weeks now.

I talked to Bret tonight. He is doing just fine. Travis, his friend's son, who was in the motorcycle accident is still improving. He is starting to communicate and is gaining strength every day. That is good news.

He was telling me that they are really "cold" there. It is 51 degrees. I said AWWW. Then he mentioned a day that he spent outside with a friend at a rodeo in temps of 24 degrees with a windchill of mid teens. I agreed with him that THAT is cold. He said he never was that cold before. So I told him that he was, at least once. When he was little, one year we, his Dad, his brother and I and Bret, came back to Wisconsin for Christmas. Nora picked us up at Mitchell and when we stepped out into temperatures of below Zero, I thought that my two California babies were going to freeze in place. We rushed them into the car and warmed it up as soon as we could. That was a fun trip. It was a surprise for Mother and Dad. All the aunts and uncles knew we were coming but not Mom and Dad. That was a fun Christmas, despite the cold.

Love

Mary

Here it is. Not the best picture but I couldn't wait for a warm day to get one outside.

So Far we like it. Easy to drive and nice bells and whistles.

Mary

It is cold and getting colder. We had a light layer of about an inch or so of snow on the ground and roads when I woke up this morning. I strapped on my shoes with the grids and we bravely made our way for her walk. She was quite efficient and it was cold enough that she did not dawdle.

Dick and I went out for breakfast and then did our grocery shopping. We were home by about 9:30. They had plowed, even up our road. It was a bit patchy so I did scrape off the driveway a bit as the last thing I want is an icy path when I go out with the girl. They did come back and cleaned up some but I am still glad that I did some scraping.

The rest of the day we basically waited for the Ford dealer to call to set up the appointment to pick up our new Explorer. I, of course, cleaned and worked on the computer while I was waiting. Finally, I called them at 3:30 and got our answer. We will be picking it up in the morning. I will describe it to you then and throw in a picture.

I picked up Market Day at 4 and then we got all dressed up and went to get Mother for the play and dinner. We went to dinner at Nino's. A very good dinner. Dick had a steak and Mother and I each had a shrimp platter. There were sixteen shrimp: 4 fried, 4 bacon wrapped, four scampi and four garlic. They were ALL good and I have half of them for lunch tomorrow.

The play was wonderful. Michael Eberhardy was indeed Kris Kringle. It was well acted, well staged and totally enjoyable. As we were leaving, Michael was sitting in a Santa Chair to greet the children and when he saw Mother he stood up and grinned from ear to ear and gave her a great big hug.

A lovely evening.

Lets all pray for the victims of that shooting in Omaha and for the soul of the shooter.

Love

Mary

Chelsea woke me up a bit early this morning and Dick was sound asleep. That was unusual but I always figure that if he is sleeping that is a minor miracle in itself and I am not about to wake him. So, since I had really slept very well, I just got up and took the girl out for her morning walk. It was cold but not windy. We only walked for about 20 to 30 minutes and stayed rather close to home because it was slippery. I have put the grids that Dick bought for me last year on my boots and they are really GREAT on ice. After falling twice on the ice that first day, I am not taking any chances. Might not be so lucky the third time.

I watered the plants and got packages ready for mailing this morning. Then after lunch, I took the packages to the post office, stopped at the bank and Walgreens for Mom's prescriptions. Then home for the rest of the day and night.

We had chicken and stuffing for supper again. Still good. I also made some cheese. I got a free gallon of milk last week and we don't drink that much milk. So. I got whole milk instead of 1% and made some Monterey Jack Cheese out of it today. I like playing around with that kind of stuff.

Tomorrow we are supposed to get our new car. We are also going to the Sheboygan Theater Co's presentation of Miracle on 34th Street with Mother. We have decided to go to Nino's for our dinner. Dick was hungry for a steak the other day so this will be his chance to take advantage of a Steak house.

My friend Janet sent me George Carlin's rules for 2008: I liked this one.

New Rule: Stop saying that teenage boys who have sex with their hot, blonde teachers are permanently damaged . I have a better description for these kids: 'Lucky bastards.'


Enjoy your Wednesday.

Love

Mary

Chelsea woke me up at the ungodly hour of 5:40AM. I took her outside long enough to do what was necessary, gave her some lettuce and went back to bed. I shut the door (A trick we have learned.) and the next thing I knew it was 7:00AM and I was raring to go. It was even light out. We had a reasonable walk but I would not let her go into the park as I draw the line at climbing over snow drifts just for a walk.

Bible study this morning. We had some very interesting pre-discussions today. Tom Keyes had watched 60 Minutes last night and informed us that according to the show, there is no longer a Christian/Catholic church recognized in Iraq. It has, according to his interpretation, become an offense punishable by death to be Christian/Catholic. If this is so, and I must do some investigating, I need to contact Mr. Bush and our representatives and find out why we are sending our young men to this country to die. We are a Christian country who accommodates other religious beliefs. We should not be supporting governments that are persecuting people for whatever their religious beliefs.

Then Peggy Feider, one of our participants, told us of an experience that she and her husband had in Florida. Their daughter lives in "the slums" (her terms). She sent them for Sunday Mass to a church just a block or so away from her apartment. Imagine their surprise when they arrived and found that they were the only white faces in the congregation. Peggy herself is a lovely blond lady. Well, they took a deep breath, walked in and took their place. Shortly, one of the ushers came and greeted them and asked if they would bring the gifts up to the altar at the Offeratory. They accepted. Then at the end of the Mass, the pastor asked if there were any visitors. (Well, DUH!) So they stood up and were greeted with a polite round of applause.

Then we got to the readings. Would you believe that they related to the two above experiences. The first was Isaiah 11:1-10 which talks of lions lying down with lambs and that God does not judge by appearance OR hearsay. Then the Gospel was from Matthew - the story of John the Baptist and we certainly could not have judged HIM by appearance, what with his running around the dessert in camel hair coats and eating honey and locusts. We decided that maybe they taste better covered in honey and would at least be crunchy.

Anyway, we need to pray for tolerance and that means that EVERYBODY may have to develop a thicker skin. Most of the time people, in my experience, don't set out to insult or disparage others. Perhaps a little understanding and patience.

This afternoon, I had my annual mammogram. Will hear in about a week but everything seemed fine on the initial exam.

Tonight was the Rhine Plymouth meeting. The lot wasn't plowed. That turned out to be quite an experience as some of the members were getting stuck. But it all worked out and Crunch had a plow on his truck and got most of it pretty well cleared. The meeting went quite well, even with both the president and vice president were both gone. Guess what, Bobbie let the meeting. Secretaries are next in line.

Now we are home and safe in our nice warm little house. Tomorrow is a stay at home day.

Hope your day is pleasant and safe too.

Love

Mary

We were snowbound, literally until mid afternoon. We were very unhappy with the snow plowing service that we received. What good is our condo fee if we are trapped until after 1:30PM after a snow that ends during the night. Disgusting. I called our illustrious president as was told that they were "working on it."

We had lent Jim and Michelle the Santa Fe YESTERDAY, because they were bringing some file cabinets etc home from her office. So I was driving the Elantra. When I came home from the Tea at the History Museum, I had a heck of a time getting it into the garage. This morning, when we woke up they had plowed the main part of Tall Grass but NOT our little side road. As a matter of fact, they left us with a Huge drift blocking the entrance to the side road to add to the deep snow that had accumulated. Really maddening. I figured I would skip the 8AM Mass and go to the 10:30 but there was no sign of life ALL morning. I called finally but it was after 1PM before they started on our street. Jim and Michelle came home in the midst of this and did some hand shoveling. They noticed that all the OTHER streets and driveways were done.

Anyway, I was unable to go to Mass and I DON'T like that at all.

I spent a lot of time today, going through all the papers from the purchase of this place and from the sale of Hunter's Glen. I shredded a whole bag of stuff.

We had stuffed roasted chicken for supper tonight and a buckeye for dessert. We are a lucky little family.

The upcoming week is moderately busy. The most exciting thing is that we will go to see Miracle on 34th Street at Sheboygan Theatre with Mother on Wednesday. That will be fun. Michael Eberhardy who went to school with my brother Matt, is Kris Kringel.

Have a good week yourself.

Love

Mary

Well, we have now had our first winter storm of the season. It started at about 12:30 with a light snow that continued and got worse as the afternoon wore on.

I fell twice. Ice is hidden under the snow and I managed to find two patches. I did not hurt myself fortunately. I have this fear of breaking something. Then we would really be in trouble at this house. So, I have to be extra careful. I found some things that Dick got for me last year that are supposed to clamp on boots and provide traction on ice. I will put them on tonight and use them in the morning. I sure hope they work.

The Christmas Tea was indeed wonderful but the attendance was way down because of the storm. We went back and forth about calling it off and ultimately decided to go ahead. There were only about 16 stalwart souls there. Jim Wilsing put on a wonderful show and spent quality time describing the tin whistles and flutes that he brought with him. He played my whistles and said that they are not bad for inexpensive ones. He said that they make good "pub "whistles. Of course, If I ever get serious about learning to play, I will get a better one.

The brown bread and soda bread went over big.

I was glad to get home though.

I am planning on getting the out of state packages done tomorrow and mailed on Monday or Tuesday. That is always the "deadline" thing. Everything else can really wait. Did I tell you that Bart and Barb's Christmas Card. It is a picture of them. They look just wonderful. Barb has lost a lot of weight and looks great. Bart looks happy. That makes me happy.

Hope I can get out to church tomorrow morning.

Love

Mary

Another cold day. We woke up to 19 degrees AND snow on the ground. Chelsea and I had a comparatively good walk, though we did not go TOO far because I was nervous. With the light covering of snow and the extreme cold, I could not see the patches of ice which made it quite dangerous.

When we got back, Dick was back in bed, so I had breakfast and then cleaned the kitchen. Boy was that floor dirty. I took my shower too and never woke Dick up so he really needed the sleep.

After he got up, we went over to Brantmeier Ford and bought an Explorer. We won't get it til next week but we have it all ordered and Dick is pleased with the purchase. I am too. The Explorer is a bit bigger than the Santa Fe and therefore rides smoother. It also is not as gas efficient but we do not drive as much as we used to either, so it will all even out for us.

I had lunch with the girls at Dairy Queen and then stopped at KMart to buy a jacket. With a 50% sale and a $5 certificate I did OK. When I got home, I rested a bit then baked some Irish Soda Bread and straightened out and put away as much clutter as I could. By next week I should have the boxes ready to mail and all the other packages wrapped and under the tree.

We are supposed to be getting a big storm tomorrow. I MAY cause us to have to postpone the Christmas Tea Music Program. Beth and I will decide in the morning. I hope everything holds out til 5PM.

That is all. Dick was happy, we had Kraft Mac and Cheese with smoked sausage cut up in it for supper.

Love

Mary

When I got up this morning at 6:30AM it was 15 degrees outside AND there was ice all over the road. Needless to say, Chelsea and I did not go far. I can take the cold but will not go far on ice. As I "explained" to Chelsea, if I break something we are in real trouble in this house.

SO, I cleaned the bathrooms and took my shower so I could get to Mother's by 10AM. She had an appointment with Dr. Nytes to have her hearing aids checked. Then she and I drove out to Gibbsville to get Christmas cheese boxes. I picked up some curds and baby Swiss for us too.

We went to Firehouse Pizza for lunch and then home.

I had plenty of time to get my picks for the football league in and spent some time on Christmas. I dipped th buckeyes and put lights on the front porch. I am quite proud of myself. I actually have the lights coming on at dusk, now if they go off at dawn, I will really be pleased.

Now I am watching the game. I picked the Packers. I really had to, but so far it does not look too good. We did allright on our first possession with a field goal. Since then the Cowboys answered with TWO field goals and have now intercepted and gotten a touchdown. OW!!!

I am so tired, that I may not be able to stay up for the whole game, I think I will put a radio in there and try to get the game as our bedroom TV died. Usually I am glad of the quiet but don't like to miss the game, even if it is only bits and pieces of it. We got our Christmas card from Bart and Barb. I am SO delighted. It is a picture of the two of them and they both look great. I will call Barb tomorrow to let her know how much I love it.

Tomorrow we are going out car shopping. I am also going to look for a new winter jacket.

Another busy day. Take care.

Love

Mary

I finished the Christmas Tree today. It is beautiful. Of course, I have never yet seen one that was not.

Mother tells a story about an ugly tree.

This happened years ago, when my Uncle Roman and Aunt MaryAnn lived in Sheboygan Falls, after the war and before Uncle Roman went back into the Air Force. Aunt Maryann did all the shopping, all the decorating and all the baking for Chistmas, except for the Christmas tree. She told Uncle Roman that he was going to do it that year and he agreed.

Well, the night before Christmas (trees were often and usually decorated the night before Christmas back then) Uncle Roman was out a bit late and perhaps imbibed a bit to much with his friends. Aunt MaryAnn was not bothered at all, at least outwardly. When he got home, the tree was still waiting. Aunt MaryAnn went to bed and Roman was left to it. He decorated all right. Mother said that it was the most gawd-awful mess you ever saw. But MaryAnn did not change an ornament. It was what it was and Christmas came any way. She is the most serene person I know. (Mother said that she couldn't have left it that way but MaryAnn did.)

We shopped this morning. Then I mixed up and rolled buckeyes. Tomorrow they will be dipped. That sounds kind of weird doesn't it. But that is what will happen. They will be dipped.

I hope to send the out of state packages early next week. Tomorrow Mother and I will go to Gibbsville to order the cheese boxes.

We had snow today. None is left on the ground but it came down for a couple of hours.

Barb called tonight. She had something to share with me. I am so happy to have her as a daughter in law.

Hope all is well everywhere. We are fine today.

Later

Mary